Without a doubt, statistically and traditionally, the wine industry is considered a men’s niche. But today, women in this field are not so rare.

Let’s start with the fact that the desire to more than understand this field, i.e. to get an education, has noticeably increased since the mid-20th century. In 1956, only 6% of students were graduates of wine faculties, by 2015 – already about a third. Then this trend accelerated significantly – by 2020, half of the graduates of the faculties of oenology, winemaking, sommelier schools were women. Moreover, women are increasingly taking on the responsibility of managing a winery – in France, for example, about a third of winemakers and owners of vineyards are women, at the global level – this is a quarter.
Even if this trend is more obvious nowadays, we can also recall several historical examples of ambitious and determined women winemakers who left their mark on the wine world and even influenced production technologies and wine styles:

• Barbe Nicole Clicquot-Ponsardin, better known as Veuve Clicquot, who invented riddling – a method of filtering sparkling wine from yeast sediment, when bottles are placed at an angle of 45 degrees in special wooden planks – pupitres – and gradually moved to a vertical position so that all the sediment accumulates at the neck, and can be easily removed from the bottle. It is worth reminding that this method is still used in the production of not only champagne, but also other sparkling wines made by the traditional method.
• Elisabeth Bollinger – who took over the famous Champagne House of the same name during the difficult times of World War II. For 30 years, she devoted herself enthusiastically to the family business, which she inherited after the death of her husband, and not only preserved the tradition of aging reserve wines in barrels (which gives Bollinger champagne its recognizable bouquet), but also, one might say, invented a new category of champagne – “récemment dégorgé” (“recent disgorgement”), when the champagne remains in contact with the yeast sediment much longer than required by the appellation regulations, and the sediment itself is removed just before commercialization. The result is an absolutely unique sparkling wine with bright notes of autolysis and amazing freshness. This principle is used today by Champagne winemakers, for example, for their premium cuvées, but they cannot use the term “récemment dégorgé”, or “R.D.”, since it is patented by the House of Bollanger.
• Madame Pommery, Alexandrine Louse Pommery – also a determined widow, who took over the management of the Champagne House, for which she converted former limestone quarries into cellars for aging. And it was Madame Pommery who first began to produce brut champagne, which was a success despite the opposite tastes of its time for a sweet champagne, and which today is (practically) the only category of champagne on the market (since brut includes brut nature and extra brut, semi-sweet champagne is losing ground, and sweet no longer exists).

With the development of winemaking technologies, women are now also becoming oenologists, researchers, taking on such responsible tasks as vinification and blending, becoming famous wine journalists, experts and sommeliers…
But what led me to such thoughts? The answer is simple: the world of wine is an amazing and fascinating, but not always compatible with the most important female role – the role of mother. How to combine the opportunity to make a miracle – to give life, to take responsibility for it from the day of conception and at the same time not to give up the need for self-improvement, professional development and advancement? Recently I faced such a task – to find a reasonable compromise, adapt and prepare to accept a new person into the family, while maintaining an optimal work rhythm.

Attention: the purpose of this article, especially the following section, is in no way to justify even a very limited presence of alcohol in the life of a pregnant woman, but to reflect on a way to protect yourself and your future child when your work is connected with alcoholic beverages.

The most important question: alcohol and pregnancy

I think this is the first thing a pregnant woman asks herself. Of course, excluding the use of alcoholic beverages during this important period is the only right decision. But what if your work includes numerous tastings? And first of all, these are not only wine experts and journalists who can somehow adapt, redistribute or reduce the number of tastings. These are oenologists and owners of wineries who completely control the wine production process (especially in the case of small family wineries). If you need to determine the blend of a wine, monitor its development during aging in barrels at the end of this process, then this means tasting dozens of samples, sometimes daily, and making a quick decision (for example, when the wine has matured enough in the barrel, what the blend will be, etc.). In other words, it is more difficult to postpone or cancel something here. Wine industry professionals will agree with me – several dozen wines during an intensive and long tasting will inevitably affect not only the perception of flavors (of course, the taste buds will get tired), but also the amount of alcohol in the blood, even if all the samples without exception were spat out into a spittoon. This happens because the small amount of wine remaining in the mouth after spitting mixes with saliva, which is secreted to restore the balance in the mouth (especially in the case of wine with high acidity or astringency), and which, on the contrary, is swallowed. And by the end of such a working day, one or two glasses of wine can be drunk in this way.
How to avoid this when the maximum level of alcohol in blood is zero? Knowing the peculiarities of large tastings, I have developed several simple principles for myself:

• Never taste with an empty stomach – food in the stomach helps prevent direct and rapid absorption of alcohol and its entry into the blood.
• Carefully spit out not only the wine, but also the saliva that is then secreted.
• Rinse your mouth after each sample tasted.
• Determine the maximum number of wines for the day.
• Do not rush to taste one wine after another as quickly as possible, but distribute the tasting throughout the day.
• Exclude strong alcoholic drinks (cognac, whiskey, armagnac, liqueurs, etc.)

Of course, this approach will slow down the pace of work somewhat, but responsibility for the future life is undoubtedly more important.
From my own experience, I can say that by using the above tricks, not only did I not have the sensation of drinking a glass of wine, but my taste buds also became less tired.

Change in taste perception

Another feature that I encountered is a change in the acuity of smell and perception of wine during tastings. If the former became more acute (which is, of course, useful for work), then the latter was distinguished by a higher sensitivity to the acidity of wine. Moreover, the wines did not seem tangy, which is not a negative characteristic, but acidic and sour.

What to do in this case? Write long descriptions of aromas and apply the theory of grape varieties, features of the appellation and vintage to “correct” the assessment of acidity in the right direction. By the way, the perception of the alcohol level can also change from “warming” to, for example, “burning”, even if it is not.

Conclusion: how compatible are work in the wine industry and pregnancy?

It must be said that the recommendations of doctors, even in countries where wine has been an integral part of the culture for centuries and millennia, have changed considerably over the past decades. I was unable to find official documents from the middle of the last century with recommendations for pregnant women for comparison, so only user comments on forums and personal communications can testify to the change from “it is not recommended to drink more than one glass of wine a week” to “not a drop of alcohol for 9 months”. The negative impact of significant amounts of alcohol on the intrauterine development of the child was proven in the 1970s, however, what happens with very small and episodic consumption, for example, a glass of champagne on New Year’s or a birthday, and whether there is a certain “safety threshold” at which alcohol will not have a destructive effect on the growing organism, is still unknown. Therefore, the most reasonable solution is, indeed, to exclude consumption and minimize the residual effects of tastings, if the work is related to alcoholic beverages. I hope that my thoughts and techniques, which I shared with my readers as a professional in the wine industry, will help them in a wonderful and difficult period of life.

P.S. If you want to know about alternative drinks, permitted during pregnancy, take a look at my article about non-alcoholic and desalcoholized wines.

Contents:

According to European laws, and depending on the appellation, the strength of the wine must be higher than 8.5-9%. Otherwise, the label must indicate “wine-based drink”.
Producers of such drinks strive to completely remove alcohol from them, which is technically impossible. Usually, dealcoholized wines (a more correct term) contain 0.3-0.5% alcohol.
2022 update: However, according to recently changed regulations, wines in which the alcohol level cannot be detected even by laboratory tests, i.e. less than 0.1%, can be called non-alcoholic. Moreover, if it is below 1.2%, then this figure can be omitted, as well as the crossed-out pictogram with a drinking pregnant woman.
The very first technology for producing non-alcoholic wine was invented by Carl Jung in Germany in 1908. His idea was based on the principle of distillation, which essentially separates its composition into several components:

• water (approximately 83%),
• alcohol (approximately 15%, depending on the strength)
• aromatic substances, acids, minerals (approximately 2%).

But if in the production of strong alcoholic beverages the purpose of distillation is the concentration of aromas and alcohol, then in the production of non-alcoholic wine it serves to separate the alcohol, while preserving its organoleptic profile. Distillation, invented by K. Jung, took place under a vacuum, so ethanol boils and evaporates at a lower temperature, avoiding unpleasant shades of cooked berries in the resulting drink. This principle is still used today.

By definition, wine is the result of fermentation of grape juice, which makes a certain sense. In addition to the formation of ethanol molecules, fermentation also produces aromatic substances that are not present in grape juice. Therefore, even a non-alcoholic drink must go through a fermentation stage to be called “wine”.

There are several ways to influence the strength of the final product, based on different principles. They can be used:

• before fermentation, by reducing the sugar content in the must using:
  • nanofiltration;
  • using less ripe, less sugary grapes;
  • diluting the must.
• during fermentation – reducing the volume of alcohol produced:
  • using special yeast strains;
  • regulating yeast metabolism;
  • artificially stopping fermentation.
• after fermentation – separating alcohol from the finished product:
  • reverse osmosis;
  • nanofiltration of ethanol molecules;
  • vacuum distillation, in which the alcohol evaporates not at 78°C, but at 27°C;
  • removal of ethanol molecules under vacuum in a specially designed column with rotating cones.

But alcohol is an important component of wine, which interacts with its other components and determines its organoleptic profile. For example, it affects its texture and the intensity of its bouquet. Therefore, removing almost 15% of the components from such a combination affects the taste sensations. Ethanol has a slightly oily texture and barely noticeable sweetness, which compensates for the natural acidity of the drink, contributing to a harmonious combination of the components of its profile. Therefore, compared to “alcoholic” dry wines, their dry, ethanol-free analogs may seem sourm qcidic. Producers compensate for this effect with a small amount of sugar.

Another feature of the production of this drink is that not any grape variety will do here. Dealcoholization inevitably loses some of the aroma and body of the wine, so producers choose varieties with bold rather than delicate aromas and a fairly rich body. For dealcoholized red wines, for example, a juicy, fruity Merlot or a rich Syrah would be better suited than a subtle Pinot Noir. In addition, ethanol is an enhancer, a base, or “support” for the flavor elements of the bouquet (like fats in food), so without alcohol, it risks becoming flat and inexpressive.

Non-alcoholic wine: is it harmful or not?

Can we talk about the benefits of this drink? It does have some advantages:

• dealcoholized red wine is not devoid of antioxidants and polyphenols, the benefits of which for the body are widely known:
  • they slow down aging
  • lower blood pressure
  • prevent cardiovascular diseases.
• Non-alcoholic wines are 2-3 times less caloric than regular alcoholic drinks: about 30 kcal versus 70-80 kcal, since there are 7 kcal per 1 gram of alcohol. So such a drink is quite capable of becoming a solution for those who monitor the amount of calories or for those who are forced to limit alcohol consumption for health reasons.
• The absence of alcohol in the consumed drink allows you to drive later

In addition, the dealcoholization process does not involve chemical, but only physical action – heating or filtration, without adding any foreign substances, potentially hazardous substances. And with a decrease in strength, the harm of this drink also decreases.

Nevertheless, dealcoholized wines cannot be compared with traditional ones for several reasons:

• They are consumed on different occasions, by different categories of buyers, so comparing what is better and what is worse is not entirely correct
• The process of removing alcohol from wine does not pass without a trace for its taste. No matter how perfect the filter membranes are and no matter how perfect the vacuum distillation is – all this is additional processing, denaturalization of the finished product, depriving it of some of its properties. It is not for nothing that Grand Crus try to minimize manipulations with grapes and must.
• Filter membranes, in addition to ethanol molecules, can retain molecules of aromatic substances, since they can be small (i.e. more volatile) or large (i.e. heavier) in size, as well as tannins.

Non-alcoholic wine can be a solution in certain situations, if you need to support the company and do not want to separate yourself from the holiday. But it is highly doubtful that it can compare with the result of a year of work by a winemaker, where each stage makes its indispensable contribution to the character and potential of the wine. Therefore, dealcoholized expensive Grand Crus will never appear on the market.

Dealcoholized wines cannot have a protected geographical name or indication, since dealcoholization is prohibited for them. In general, such manipulations are strictly regulated, and the alcohol removal must not exceed 2% for the drink to be called table wine without a protected designation. If more than 2% of alcohol is removed, then by law the label must already indicate “dealcoholized wine”, “dealcoholized wine-based drink” or “grape juice-based drink”.

Non-alcoholic wine brands

For this relatively new category, several examples of manufacturers can be given.

For example, the following French and German companies:

• Le Petit Béret is a brand of organic non-alcoholic wines founded by the best sommelier of France in 2004, Dominique Laporte, with a wide range of dry and sweet, still and sparkling wines from Muscat, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay varieties grown in the southern regions of France.

• Pierre Zéro is a brand of the merchant Pierre Chauvin, based in the south of France, in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Various types of drinks from Merlot and Chardonnay are produced using modern dealcollization technology – in a column with rotating cones.

• Appalina is a brand of non-alcoholic wines produced in Germany by order of a large French merchant Grands Chais de France. The range includes red wine from Merlot, pink from Pinot Noir, white still and sparkling from Chardonnay. The grapes for production in Germany come, again, from the French Languedoc.

• Nosecco is a sparkling white wine, similar in style to Prosecco.

• Codorniu Zero is a non-alcoholic sparkling wine from a well-known Spanish cava producer.

• Rotkäppchen is a major German brand that has existed since the end of the 19th century and has been producing non-alcoholic sparkling wines since 2008.

Food pairings and non-alcoholic wines

Here you can focus on classic combinations:

• Dry non-tart reds go with both red and white meat with a medium-bodied flavor:
  • beef fillet;
  • veal;
  • duck breast;
  • baked chicken or turkey.

• Dry white still and sparkling wines go with “sea classics”:
  • salad with seafood (squid, shrimp, mussels);
  • fresh cheeses with a mild flavor (mozzarella, fresh goat cheese);
  • vegetable salad;
  • light snacks with ham and pâtés.

• Semi-dry white still and sparkling:
  • with fruits (peaches, apricots, pineapple);
  • not very sweet fruit desserts;
  • fruit sorbet.

• Sweet white still and sparkling:
  • with sweeter desserts;
  • blue cheeses;
  • aged cheeses.

• Red sweet:
  • with chocolate;
  • with chocolate desserts;
  • meat with chocolate sauce.

Tasting of non-alcoholic wine Appalina Alcohol Free. Merlot

Non-alcoholic wine of the Appalina brand is made in Germany, by order of the large French merchant Les Grands Chais de France. In addition to red wine from the Merlot variety, its line includes white still and sparkling wine from Chardonnay and pink from Pinot Noir. For the first tasting, I chose red wine, and this is what came out of it.

Color: pale ruby

Aroma: medium intensity, at first even medium (+), but it seemed to me that the wine somehow quickly fizzled out. As for the bouquet, it is simple, and somewhere even candy or jam-like. Shades of chokeberry and black currant dominate, you can also distinguish red cherry and prune.

Taste: The description describes the wine as “semi-sweet”, and that’s what it tastes like, but in an unbalanced form, to put it mildly. The acidity is high, and for balance it clearly lacks not sugar, but the texture that ethanol gives to wines. By the way, the sweetness added to the wine with the help of grape juice also manifests itself separately from all its other components. The body is light, alcohol is obviously absent, the aftertaste is short-lived and sour, and the tannins are low. The bouquet is reminiscent of juice from sour berries, such as cranberries or lingonberries.

Quality rating: If we reason in the context of the goal of non-alcoholic wine – to offer a worthy (and indistinguishable) replacement for the original, then the quality of this drink is mediocre, if not bad. The wine lacks body and balance between sugar and acidity, and its bouquet is quite simple.

Aging potential: none. Apart from acidity, the wine does not have the parameters necessary for long-term aging – concentration, body and tannins. In addition, there is no vintage on the label, and the bottle is closed with a screw cap, which excludes contact with air and development of the wine.

Quality assessment according to the BLICE principle

• Balance (Balance) – the wine is not harmonious, sweetness and acidity are poorly related to each other. The attack of the wine is sweetish, but the aftertaste is unnaturally sour.
• Length (Duration of the aftertaste) – short (maximum average (-) ) and unpleasantly sour.
• Intensity (Intensity) – average (+), both aromas and tastes.
• Complexity (Complexity) – a simple bouquet of red berries.
• Expression (Expressiveness/Typicity) – it is unlikely that in a blind tasting one would be able to recognize Merlot in this wine, and even more so – the appellation or even the country of origin.

Even though non-alcoholic wine is intended for, as (indistinguishable, or at least similar) alternative to alcoholic drinks, it still doesn’t taste like real wine. And it’s unlikely that technology will soon be so advanced that it will be possible to remove only ethanol without affecting the wine’s profile.

In my opinion, for now it’s better to give preference to non-alcoholic cocktails, which have a better chance of being something fit for consumption.

Today, I am adding another wine to the collection of volcanic wine tastings. Produced by the emblematic Auvergne estate, Desprat St-Verny, this lively, mineral and round white is made from Pinot Gris and Chardonnay, which grow in the heart of the Auvergne volcanoes, on clay-limestone soils.

Vinification in neutral stqinless steel vats allows the grape varieties to fully express their fruity characters, as well as the minerality of the soils.

Color: lemon, of medium intensity

Nose: aromatic, with exotic notes (lychee, pineapple), ripe lemon, yellow apple, apricot, a fine floral bouquet (hawthorn and acacia), a smoky mineral touch in the background, bitter almond and apricot kernel

Palate: gourmand, lively, with a round body, refreshing acidity and a good bitterness in the finish (bitter almond, apricot kernel). The flavors are gourmet, ripe, with a slight exotic hint of lychee and pineapple, ripe apple and white flowers (hawthorn, acacia). A pleasant fruity side (apricots and grapefruit in the mid-palate)

Quality assessment: a good wine with energy, originality and a certain complexity

Food and wine pairings: goat cheese, mild cheese, white fish, seafood… light dishes and not very pronounced in taste will go well with this wine.

The history of Tchotiashvili family began in the 18th century, on the banks of the Lopota River, in the Alazani Valley. Today, the 8th generation continues the family traditions, producing wines from indigenous grape varieties and vinified in qvevri. Two brothers, Kakha and Ucha, are at the head of the family business, and since 2002 they have chosen to focus on rare Georgian grape varieties and create high-quality wines.

Terroir and vineyard

The Tchotiashvili vineyard is located in the famous Kakheti region, near the Caucasus Mountains and the Lopota and Stori rivers. The mountains and rivers create favorable conditions for viticulture and the production of quality wines from local grape varieties Rkatsiteli and Saperavi (in this article you can learn more about the Kakheti terroir). But the Chotiashvili family also cultivates rare grape varieties Kisi, Mtsvane, Kakhuri Mtsvivani, Tavkveri, Khikhvi. Viticulture on the Chotiashvili vineyards is respectful of the soils and the specific conditions of a vintage, in order to minimize interventions and treatments.

Winemaking

The wines are produced by the traditional method of winemaking in qvevri, which requires a lot of labor and time. The bunches are placed whole in the qvevri, where they ferment in contact with the skin, seeds and stalks for several months. For this, not only the grapes with stalks and seeds must be ripe, but also the stalks, which gives the wine an exceptional concentration, an amber color and tannins unusual for a white wine. I talk in detail about the peculiarities of the unique technique of wine production in qvevri in this article. It is truly an art, very complex, but which produces extraordinary wines.

The production of these wines is really small. Each bottle is numbered by hand and each cuvée has only a few thousand bottles.

Tasting: Rcheuli Qvevri, Kisi Limited 2019

For this cuvée, the Kisi grapes underwent a maceration in qvevri in contact with skins, seeds and stalks for 7.5 months. During the winemaking process, no inputs were used (except sulphites to disinfect the qvevris) and the wine was not filtered before bottling.

Color: amber, slightly orange
Aromas: are discreet at first but honeyed, warm, even exotic (exotic fruits, passion fruit, papaya in the background, mango, dried pineapple), then distinct aromas of spices (saffron, ground cumin, cloves) of tobacco, of infused and dried black tea appear, completed by notes of yellow peach, dried apricot, dried golden apple, dried flowers (chamomile, linden, calendula), dried herbs (hay, basil), wax, chestnut honey, caramelized walnuts, fresh walnuts, toasted almonds and fresh hazelnuts after aeration.
Palate: offers well-marked tannins (even medium plus) and high acidity, flavors of lemon, bitter orange and dried grapefruit and citrus zest at the beginning and a long and fresh finish. There is also a nice freshness on the palate: notes of fresh lemon, green apple, dried apple skin and fresh herbs, combined with notes of cumin, clove, black tea and dried green tea, chamomile infusion, fresh lime blossom, chestnut honey and wax, fresh walnuts in the background, dried apricots and fresh almonds. A surprising and structured wine with the complexity and surprising freshness of fresh quince, as well as a good bitterness of grapefruit and dried lime. The finish is long, chiseled and fresh, very complex, with pleasant touches of dried and candied apple.

Evaluation of quality: A very good wine, even exceptional, atypical for European tastes, surprising, deep and complex, with a solid tannic structure and lively acidity, which give the wine a good base and development potential.

Food and wine pairings: I recommend to enjoy this wine on its own, without accompaniment. But I think, Georgian dishes, rich in spices, which are also found in the profile of this wine, or white meat dishes in a saffron sauce.

My choice was the wine LimNeon of Porto Carras, the single estate of the Greek PDO Slopes of Meliton, on the Sinthonia Peninsula in region of Halkidiki in Northern Greece.

PDO Slopes of Meliton was established in 1982, but its vineyards were planted in 1960s. Thanks to the Professor of University of Bordeaux and the father of modern winemaking, Emile Peynaud, the winemaking of Greece started its Renaissance. PDO Slopes of Meliton was the first to blend international grape varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc with local Limnio, known from the ancient times and referred by Aristotle and Homer. So the historical importance of this variety can’t be underestimated. An another ancient indigeneous grape variety of Greece, Malagouzia, was also rediscovered thanks to researches in the winery of Porto Carras. The others, Athiri, Assyrtiko and Roditis, grown almost only in Greece (the two first could be found especially on the Island of Santorini) are also authorized in PDO Slopes of Meliton.
As the one can understand from the name of the PDO, its area is situated on the slopes of the mountain Meliton, between 300 and 400 meters of altitude (while the mountain itself is 811 meters high ). Soils here are composed from clay, sand and Limestone and are particularly suitable for viticulture. Climate here is Mediterranean, hot and sunny, but with cooling influences of the Mont Meliton and of the refreshing breezes from Mediterranean sea. This combination allows the grapes to ripen slowly and to keep their acidity.

Limnio grape variety

As I have already mentionned, Limnio was grown in Greece thousands years ago, and represents one of the most ancient grape varieties. It is believed to be originated from the north of the Aegean sea and one of Aegean Islands – Limnos, but today it can hardly be found there. Limnio had successfully travelled to the main continent and nowadays only 72 ha of Limnio are still grown on its island of origin. Limnio is more widely planted in Macedonia, on the Halkidiki Peninsula and Rapsani, which is situated more to the south, in Thessalia. The zines from northern Macedonian lands are considered to be the best.
Limnio is productive and suits well for vinegrowing in a hot climate of Greece: it ripens late, can stand with drought and has refreshing herbaceous aromas. In wine it gives a full body, high alcohol and tannins, which makes it an important component on blends (especially, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc), but Limnio prouduces also qualitative monovarietal wines. Limnio is not widely known and the promotion is focused on wine, containing French varieties or representing a Bordeaux blend. Even the PDO Slopes of Meliton admits maximum 30% of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Tasting notes

Limnio of Porto Carras, choosed by La Cité du Vin was a mono-varietal wine, and an occasion to discover a pure expession of this variety, almost unknown outside Greece.
The vines of Limneo for this wine are planted on the altitude of 100-300 meters, on soils from sands and clay. The yield is low (5 t/ha), so the grapes czn accumulate enough flavor and depth to withstand 12 months of barrel aging.
Indeed, it is a wine from the south, with deep and concentrated aromas and flavours of red and black fruits (cerries and plums), mostly dried or stewed, but with a plesant balancing fresh touch. Dried herbs, black pepper and cloves were also present in a complex profile of medium to medium (+) intensity on the nose and on the palate, with medium (+) soft tannins and medium finish.

Sources
Wine Grapes. A complete guide to 1,368 vine varieties, including their origins and flavors. Jancis Robinson, Julia Harding, José Vouillamoz
https://www.wine-searcher.com/grape-773-limnio
https://www.portocarraswines.gr/en/products/wines/32-red/45-limneon2.html
http://www.newwinesofgreece.com/lista_oinon_pop/en_pdo_slopes_of_meliton.html
https://www.portocarras.com/resort/domaine-porto-carras/

Bordeaux is sometimes named the world capital of wine, and indeed, the one can dive in the world of wine here, thanks to numerous events and tastings, estates openned for visits and selections of fine wines in bars in city center.
Several years ago Bordeaux received an another wine sightseeing – La Cité du Vin – an impessive museum, dedicated to wine: to its history, culture and winemaking regions. An impresive building, which form is compared with wine, swirling in a glass, comprises a modern and colorful “Parcours Permanent” – a permanent exhibition, offering an immersion to the world of wine, from its first appearence thousands years ago till modern time. You can walk through e-vigne, telling you about the growing cycle of the vine and work in the vineyard and about the most planted international varieties; you can listent to the winemakers from all around the world, talking about their terroir with love and passion, you can watch a lot of small movies and presentations in every corner of the exhibition; you can touch and turn the globe and get a perfect illustration of world winemaking; and, finally, you can even smell the typical aromas of wines (particularly usefull for students in wine industry).
I visited the Parcours Permanent two times with my annual card (again, thanks to my husband for this present), but this place is worth to return. After a dive into an ocean of information, each visitor can go up on the 8th floor, to the Bar Belvédère, for a tasting of a wine from an original selection, admiring a splendide view on Bordeaux. Read about the wine I chose in the next article.

The amazing building of the wine museum La Cité du Vin

Near the museum

Globe illustrating the history of winemaking

Map of the distribution of different grape varieties

A room with different aromas that can be found in wine

And here you can listen some interviews with winemakers

My annual subscription

Huge selection of wines at Latitude 20 boutique in the museum

Expensive legendary wines in the boutique of La Cité du Vin

View from the window of the bar on the eighth floor, la Belvédère…

…where you can try wines from all over the world

The production of alcoholic beverages, be it whiskey, gin, tequila, cognac or wine, is a fairly popular area of investment among celebrities.
One of the most famous of these enterprises is, perhaps, Chateau Miraval, situated in Provence and owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. But let’s leave it to the press and the lawyers of the star couple to figure out who owns the Chateau and its vineyards to a greater extent: in my article, I will focus on the quality of the wine and the terroir of the estate.

Geographical location and features of the terroir

The vineyards of Chateau Miraval are located in the center of Provence, near the settlements of Correns and Brignols, which was once the residence of the Counts of Provence. If you look at the map of the region, this location belongs to the so-called “green Provence” and the appellation Coteaux Varois en Provence. The soils here are calcareous, calcareous-clayey, with some inclusions of gravel, tuff and slate. The terrain itself is relief and is formed by the surrounding mountain ranges – Saint-Beaume in the west, Bessillons in the north and Barres de Cuers in the south, which affects the local climate as follows:

• Protects from cool air from the Atlantic
• Creates a certain continentality of the climate, being a natural barrier
• Favors mountain winds
• Provides a relative height above sea level, the maximum value of which reaches 500 meters

The vineyards of Château Miraval are located on terraces, at an elevation of 350 meters, which in turn contributes to a significant difference in night and day temperatures, provides a favorable location of the vines under the sun’s rays, and also prevents stagnation of water in case of heavy rainfall.

Varieties and production technology
The wine blend consists of typical southern varieties – red Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah, supplemented by the white Rolle variety (another more famous name is Vermentino). Let me remind you that the blending of red and white varieties in the form of finished wine (i.e. after alcoholic fermentation) in the production of rosé wine is prohibited by European law, but for pressing, i.e. before fermentation, bunches or fresh berries of white and red varieties can be mixed. Here, Grenache, Cinsault and Rolle are subjected to gentle direct pressing, and Syrah undergoes a short maceration, i.e. for this variety, the “saignée” method is used (which is translated from French as “bleeding”). Then, 95% of the wine volume undergoes vinification in neutral stainless steel vats, and 5% – in oak barrels using batonnage.

Tasting

Color: pale salmon
Nose: expressive, with delicate notes of red apple, raspberry, red currant, pink grapefruit and fresh almond (with a slight bitterness), as well as sour red cherry, rose hip and rose.
Palate: energetic and fresh, with a distiguished verticality, bright hints of red berries (raspberry, red currant, cranberry, red cherry), sourness and bitterness of grapefruit, as well as elegant floral notes (rose hip, rose, lily). Quite a long and fresh finish with high acidity and a salty mineral note.
Overall impression and assessment of quality: a good rosé wine, typical of Provence with its elegant fruitiness, airiness and complexity, but at the same time possessing a rounded but elegant texture.
For what occasion and what to pair it with: a classic Provencal rosé, with its characteristic delicacy and freshness. Perfect for a summer aperitif with light snacks, such as shrimp with avocado, lobster rolls, or caprese salad or vegetable appetizers.
 

In the article on Auvergne wines I spoke of a unique effect of foehn, a wind, created by the collision of clouds with the mountains, which descends from the mountains and warms the air and which thus promotes the maturation of the grapes. However, the grapes accumulate enough sugar for a sufficient level of alcohol in future wines and notes of fleshy and gourmet ripe fruits, while keeping the freshness and acidity.
Rosé wine ” L’Effet de Fun” (a nice play on words for the name of a vintage) from the Héritage Volcanique estate is a fine example of this association of terroir particularities. The wine has tension and crisp acidity, wrapped in a round and gourmand texture, as well as with some complexity. It is a harmonious and pleasant wine, which will suit different occasions and light summer dishes.

Color: pale salmon
Nose: the aromas are expressive and warming, but subtle. It expresses the tangy notes of fresh and dried raspberry, fresh strawberry, dried strawberry and redcurrant. The is also a herbaceous hint (dried and fresh herbs), a slight smoky touch, as well as a delicate floral bouquet (rose, hawthorn). After aeration, slightly sweet gourmet aromas of red apple and apricots appear, balanced by the tanginess of pink grapefruit, passion fruit and a crunchy, nutty hint of passion fruit seeds.
Palate: The wine is fine, tangy and fresh, with a nice persistence and tension. The citrus notes (lemon, grapefruit) are more expressive on the nose. In the mid-palate, they are complemented by the flavors of apricot, raspberry, fresh and fresh herbs, combined with a floral hint of hawthorn.
Overall impression and quality assessment: a gourmet wine, ripe and warm on the nose, refreshing and delicate on the palate. Beautiful tension and balance. A gastronomic rosé with a certain complexity, but pleasant and accessible for summer evenings.
Food and wine pairings: grilled prawns , avocado-shrimp cocktail, raw fish or fish marinated in olive oil with lemon zest, vegetable salads or grilled fish (except those with a strong taste, like mackerel)… the choice is very wide.

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Montlouis-sur-Loire is a small (450 hectares) little-known wine region in the Loire Valley. However, its wines differ from the smoky, mineral Pouilly-Fumé and Sancerre, thanks to the special characteristics of the terroir:

• Combination of continental and oceanic influences
• Orientation of the vineyards to the south
• Influence of the Loire and Cher rivers, which soften the continental climate

History of the appellation

The town of the same name, which in the 5th century was called Mons Laudium, began to develop thanks to the extraction of local building limestone, which was exported from the local port located on the navigable Loire. At the same time, winemaking began to develop. But over time, the course of the river changed, the port became impossible to exploit, but the vineyards continued to give rich, sun-drenched berries, from which deep and concentrated wine was obtained.
The Montlouis name itself was one of the first to be allocated by the French authorities in 1938, when the principle of protected designations of origin had just appeared (let me remind you that the purpose of introducing the system of protected designations was to identify products with exceptional characteristics produced in a certain territory and to prevent their counterfeiting). Until that year, the Montlouis territory produced wines of the neighboring Vouvray appellation and was actually united with it. Since then, Montlouis winemakers have done a huge amountl of technical work (vine management, determining the maximum yield per hectare, etc.) to create the best conditions for viticulture on their terroir, which would emphasize its uniqueness of the wines produced. And in 2002, the appellation received its modern name – Montlouis-sur-Loire. The Montlouis Winemakers’ Syndicate was founded even earlier, in 1891, when phylloxera was devastating European vineyards, with the aim of jointly combating parasites and vine diseases. Today, this organization is involved not only in the technical (application of new winemaking and viticulture technologies) and administrative aspects, but also in communication about the region and its wines.

Types of wines and grape variety of Montlouis-sur-Loire

The white Chenin variety is the only one permitted for the production of wines (only whites) in the appellation. Originally from the Anjou region, Chenin was brought to Montlouis by river transport and acquired its first name, Pineau de la Loire (Pinot de la Loire, Loire Pinot). The monks of the abbeys that existed in Montlouis from the 9th-10th centuries experimented with this variety on their lands, and it is possible that the variety received its modern name Chenin thanks to the gravel elevation of Mont Chenin, where it produced a particularly good harvest. Chenin is distinguished by high acidity, freshness, as well as richness and the ability to accumulate sugar, thanks to which this variety is capable of producing sparkling, still dry and sweet wines. In addition to Montlouis, Chenin is the main variety for dry white wines in the appellations of Anjou, Saumur, Vouvray, Savennières and sweet wines of Vouvray, Quarts de Chaume and Chaume.

Tasting: Closerie Chanteloup L’Essentiel 2018 Montlouis-sur-Loire

Color: Pale lemon with a greenish tint
Nose: Juicy, with noticeable ripeness and concentration, yet delicate and fresh. Notes of citrus (lemon, lemon zest, lime, grapefruit), green apple and fresh quince are complemented by aromatic and slightly sweet shades of acacia, linden, as well as spicy notes of saffron and nutmeg, with a hint of warm brioche.
Palate: reflects the special characteristics of the terroir, which contribute to optimal ripening of the grapes – a round attack and a medium (+) body, richness and sweetness of flavors (naturally, the wine itself is dry), which is more pronounced than in the aroma (peach, candied lemon, fresh lemon, green pear and apple). There are also flavors of dried and fresh flowers (linden, chamomile, acacia). High acidity, which balances the rich profile of the wine. The aftertaste is quite long, with a hint of quince jam.
Overall impression and quality: a very good wine, ripe, balanced. The high acidity of Chenin is not piercing here, as the rounded attack and oily texture of the wine smooth it out perfectly.
Matching with food: you can play on the principle of similarity and serve Milanese risotto with saffron or white poultry or veal with saffron sauce, or with a creamy chanterelle sauce.

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